The Tales of Beedle the Bard

[demeter918]

Amazon.com bought the one copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard that was up for auction.

I think it's actually quite nice that they bought it and are sharing it with people. For all we know, it could have ended up in the hands of a private collector who wouldn't be quite as generous with pictures and descriptions. I'm not sure how much they're going to be allowed to reveal, didn't J.K. Rowling say it couldn't be republished? Does that mean just for profit? Or does it mean as long as they publish it on a free forum, it'll be alright? (the cynical part of me wonders about publicity, and yeah, that is a quite a bit of positive publicity considering. But just a small, cynical part. ;))

Also, I'm still flabbergasted by the amount of people who are saying J.K. Rowling owes them this book, that she had no right to do it. Seriously. What?

Comments

[threeoranges.livejournal.com]

Also, I'm still flabbergasted by the amount of people who are saying J.K. Rowling owes them this book, that she had no right to do it. Seriously. What?

I know she had the *right* to do it: what I don't like (and I imagine I'm speaking for many here) is the exclusivity of the thing. Imagine if there was a Vermeer painting that nobody apart from the owner had ever seen, and that the owner wanted to keep to himself/herself. No reproduction was allowed, and all the general public got were descriptions. ("It's a young blonde woman standing by the door of her house, looking out at a damp morning. The flagstones outside glisten with rain; her dark-blue dress is half-hidden in the shadow...")

Would that be "OK"? Or could you argue that Vermeer is so popular, and his paintings are so beautiful and so rare, that it isn't fair to keep an example of art from the rest of the world in this way?

By writing an "exclusive" collection of fairy tales set in the Harry Potter universe, JKR has raised her middle finger towards her reading audience. Suddenly it's not about reading or pleasure any more, it's about profit. Those books are just "investments" for her friends. Million-pound nest-eggs.

Yeah, she raised three million dollars for charity with the one book - but she could have raised a lot more if she'd issued a general print run as well as the seven exclusive hand-written/illustrated copies. I'm hoping she WILL do that later on. Right now, she's making little children cry.

[lilysnape.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's exactly how I feel! But much better explained hehe.

[lilysnape.livejournal.com]

Well I think it's kind of mean not to share it. I mean she could publish it and most of the profits go to charity or so. But yeah I'm glad Amazon is willing to share it.